Shim for railroad



Feb. 18, 1958 J. YEGLINSKI I PICS- l- INVENTOR. J PH YEGLJNSKI UnitedStates Patent sHIM FOR RAILROAD Joseph Yeglinski, Greenfield, Mass.Application May 4, 1956, Serial No. 582,846

1 Claim. (Cl. 238-328) This invention is concerned with anti-creeperdevices used with railway rails. Particularly these anti-creeper devicesare referred to as railway anchors for preventing the longitudinalmovement of the rails after the trains have continually passedthereover.

One of the problems of these anchors or anti-creeper devices has beenthe inability of the device and the rail to which it is attached tostand up over a period of time. Actually the device and the rails wearout from surface friction, from corrosion, and from the elements. Whenthe device and the rail have worn out, there is an area or open spacebetween the lower side of the anchor which contacts the upper surface ofthe rail. It is actually the contact of these surfaces that controls andprevents the movement of the rail. Once the anchor does not make a tightconnection with the upper surface of the rail, it has lost its abilityto function. It has therefore been necessary to throw away or discardthe anchor, and replalce it with a new one, and also often to replacethe rar Many attempts have been made to overcome this problem. There aremany types of anchors which have methods of taking up this so-calledslack or space that has developed over a period of time. However, theseanchors are expensive and burdensome upon the user when new ones areoriginally put into use.

The base of the rail also corrodes and wears out so that a new anchorwill not suflice to take up the space.

Further, there are in operation today many millions of anchors andthousands of miles of rail that over a period of time will becomeobsolete or non-usable as a result of the aforementioned wearing out.

It is a primary object of this invention to provide a simple device formaking available all anchors and rails that have worn out, for use asoriginally intended.

It is another object of the within invention to provide a simple devicefor taking up the slack between the anchor and the rail that isinexpensive in the cost of manufacture.

It is yet another object of the within invention to pro vide a devicethat can take up the slack between the rail and the anchor and that canbe put on in a matter of seconds at a minimum cost and in a very easy,noncomplicated manner.

These and other objects are obtained by the use of a shim. This deviceis open on two sides and has four surfaces. These four surfaces arelocated around and are complementary to the surfaces of the anchor. Thebottom surface of the shim lies between the surface of the anchor andthe surface of the rail.

It is contemplated that the sizes and dimensions of these shims shallvary to take into account the varying spaces that exist between varioussizes of rails and anchors. It is also contemplated that this shim shallhave a variable bottom dimension so that it will act eificiently as awedge between the anchor and the rail.

For a more detailed description to the specific embodiment disclosed inthis specification, reference is 2,823,867 Patented Feb. 18, 1958 madeto the following disclosure and in the accompany ing drawing, wherein:

Figure l is a perspective view of a rail anchor, embodying the principleof this invention.

Figure 2 is an exploded side view in cross section of a portion of theanchor surface and the rail surface.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the shim device.

In Figure l the rail 1 is shown. The top surface of the rail isindicated at 2, and the edge of the top rail surlface is 3. This is atypical American type of railroad ra1 The lower portion 4 of the rail 1has an inclined surface 5. The edge 6 of the lower portion 5 of the rail1 lies between the inclined surface 5 and the bottom portion 4.

The anchor 10 which comprises several portions has an upper arm 7, alower arm 11, the bottom 20 of the body of the anchor 10, and thebinding arm 13 of the anchor 10.

The side surface 8 of the anchor 10 is located below and adjacent theupper arm surface 7. The top edge surface 9 of the anchor 10 faces theside 21 of the rail 1.

Reference is made to the view of Figure 2, wherein there is an area 18between the lower side 22 of the anchor arm 7 and the upper inclinedsurface 5 of the rail. It is this space 18. about which this inventionis concerned.

As can be seen from the various figures, the anchor 10 contacts therail, theoretically, at three different 10- cations. The last locationis at 13 which is the fixed binding arm of the anchor. The secondlocation is at 12 where the anchor 10 contacts the rail 1 on its bottomsurface. And, of course, the first location is indicated by the area 18.In the event that the area 18 is an open space instead of making contactwith the rail, it is necessary to have a device which will take up thespace.

Accordingly, it is within the spirit and scope of this invention toprovide a shim as shown in Figure 3. This shim is a four sided figureopen on its upper horizontal portion and its forward vertical portion.It is designed to fit into the end of the anchor, as shown in Figure 1.The shim comprises vertical sides 14, and the vertical rear 15, whichrear 15 contacts the edge 9 of the anchor; and the take up area andhorizontal bottom portion 17. It is the dimensions and thickness 16 ofthe bottom of the shim 17 that determine the amount of space that istaken up between the top of the rail 5 and the lower portion 22 of theanchor 10, as indicated by the area 18.

Lower portion 22 contacts the bottom surface 17 when the shim is inposition. The edge of the anchor 9 contacts the substantially verticalsurface 15 when the shim is in position. The sides 8 of the anchor 10contact the sides 14 when the shim is in position.

The thickness 16 of the bottom of the shim will, of course, determinethe amount of space to be taken up. It has been found that the mostinexpensive way to take 'care of this problem is to provide shims havingbottoms of varying thickness. That is, the space or thickness indicatedby 16 may be varied by the various sizes of shims to be used. The reasonfor this is, of course, the fact that the area between the bottom 22 ofthe anchor 10 and the inclined surface 5, which heretofore has beencalled the area 18, varies in dimension with the amount of wear andcorrosion that has taken place between the anchor and the rail.

Not only does the thickness 16 of the shim bind the anchor 10 to therail 1, but the sides 14 held together by the rear 15 prevent the anchor10 from sliding back as well as laterally on the rail. The raii 1 isthus kept fixed in a single position and the anchor 11) will not move.

In order to use the shim, it is apparent from the foregoing that it isonly necessary to put same in place as shown in Figure 1, in the areabetween surface 22 and inclined surface 5 (see Figure 2). The anchor 10is merely removed from the rail 1. It does not have to be dug up. It canbe knocked off by tapping the arm 13. The shim of Figure 3 is placedaround the anchor as is shown in Figure 1. In order to put the anchorback on the rail as shown in Figure 1, a blow is struck on the edge ofthe lower arm 11 which snaps the binding arm 13 into .place over theinclined surface of the rail. It is also contemplated, of course, thatthe person performing this job shall take into consideration the properdimensions to be taken up by the shim. This dimension should be largerthan the space. Once the shim is in place, the anchor of the rail cannotmove. It is again binding on all three points of contact as heretoforementioned.

From the foregoing description it is readily apparent that the anchorand even the rail need not be thrown away, but may be saved by a verysimple, inexpensive shim, that would cost much less to manufacture thanto replace the entire anchor. The life of the anchor becomes indefiniteas the shim itself can be replaced.

Certain dimensions in the specification and description have beenexaggerated in order to teach more expeditiously this subject.

It is contemplated that other species of this invention are within thespirit and scope of this concept.

In consideration of the foregoing disclosure, I claim:

In combination, a unitary railroad rail anchor having an upper arm witha lower surface at its end and a railroad rail having a base with anupper inclined surface, there being a space between the respectivecontacting points of both the anchor and the rail, 9. shim device, saidshim device having a rectangular shaped base portion lying between thesaid inclined surface of the rail and the lower surface of the end ofthe upper arm, a pair of rectangular sides in parallel vertical planesto said rectangular base and integral therewith, said vertical sides incontact with the vertical sides of the upper arm of the anchor, a rearvertical portion integral with said base and said sides andsubstantially perpendicular to said base, said base, said sides, andsaid rear vertical portion having substantially fiat inner surfacesconforming in configuration for engagement with the complementarysurfaces of said upper anchor .arrn, whereby the said base of the saidshim exerts a pressure upon the upper arm of said anchor, causing allpoints of contact between said anchor and said rail to become in tightfrictional engagement.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

